CRIMINOLOGY

CYBER CRIMINOLOGY & CYBER FORENSICS

Understanding the Internet

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 MODULE 4 : UNDERSTANDING THE INTERNET

Component - I - Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation

Principal Investigator Prof(Dr) G S Bajpai Registrar
National Law University
Delhi
Paper Coordinator Prof(Dr) K. Jaishankar Professor and Head,
Department of Criminology,
Raksha Shakti University,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Content Writer/Author Rashmi Choudhury Trained Criminologist,
Department of Criminology,
Raksha Shakti University,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Content Reviewer Prof(Dr) K. Jaishankar Professor and Head,
Department of Criminology,
Raksha Shakti University,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Component - I (B) Description of Module

Description of Module
Subject Name Criminology
Paper Name Cyber Criminology and Cyber Forensics
Module No. 4
Module Name/Title Understanding the Internet
Pre-requisites  Basic understanding of the computer networks,
internet, IP addresses, servers and web
distribution
Objectives  To understand how the domain name system
works.
 To explore website creation and database driven
websites.
 To gain an overview of the World Wide Web.
Keywords DNS, Email, WWW, Website creation, Dynamic
websites, Database driven sites, HTML, HTTP.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Working Principle of Domain Name System
3. Basics of Email
4. Concepts of World Wide Web (WWW)
5. Website Creation
6. Database driven websites
7. Summary and Conclusion

Learning Outcomes
After completing this module, you will be able:
1. To understand how the domain name system works.
2. To explore the concept of Email.
3. To get an overview of the World Wide Web.
4. To understand the concepts of Website creation and Database Driven websites.

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 Understanding the Internet

1. Introduction
The internet is a multifaceted and diversified network. The whole essence of the
internet system is varied and large. The use of internet has also grown increasingly diversified
over the past years. Today, the internet is much more complex because of the technological
advancement. The internet landscape has also changed with the development of the chat
programs, social media, virtual environments and personal profiles. Understanding the
internet as a medium-both as a media and communication system-will help us gain a better
insight into the complex and widespread culture of the whole online environment.

2. Working Principle of Domain Name System

The Domain name system are alphanumeric names for IP addresses e.g.,
neon.cs.virginia.edu, www.google.com, ietf.org. Since IP addresses are hard to remember,
hence, domain names are used. The domain name system (DNS) is an internet-based database
that translates between domain names and IP addresses. They are formed from several or at
least two labels (parts) that are separated by dots. Labels in the name are numbered from right
to left. The top-level domain will be in the most extreme right-mark in the domain name and
the sub-domains will be located on the left. The domain name system is divided into 127
levels and each level contains a maximum of 63 characters. However, the maximum number
of characters a domain name can have is 254 characters. All DNS servers are located in a
hierarchical order. Each domain or sub-domain supports multiple authorized servers which
contain all the necessary information about the domain.
The procedure of DNS is as follows:
1. The information of the computer is saved in the Domain name servers. The servers
are widely distributed over the internet.
2. In order to connect with a host on the internet, the Domain name should be entered in
the URL of the browser. The computer will then connect to the default name servers
and ask for the IP addresses of the host.
3. The name server will then let the computer know about the IP addresses of the query
host.
4. Once the computer gets the IP address of the host, the computer communicates with
the host.

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 The design principle of DNS is as follows:
1. The naming system is hierarchical and logical based which is called the domain
namespace. The hierarchy can be represented by a tree. They are administered by an
Internet central name registration authority (ICANN). The administration of
namespace is delegated to organizations. The hierarchical namespace is done by a
hierarchy of name servers. Each server is responsible for a contiguous portion of the
DNS namespace called zone.
2. Names of hosts can be assigned without a location of the IP network.
3. The allocation of domain name follows the allocation of IP addresses, as for example
the domain name www.example.com have network prefix 198.105.232.4.
4. The node in the DNS tree represents a DNS name. Every node in the DNS domain
tree can be identified by a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). The FQDN
consists of labels such as “edu” and a period such as “.”, characters and numerals.
FQDNs are not case-sensitive.
5. The three types of top-level domain are organizational which consists of 3 character
codes as for example gov, edu, org, and com, net. The second type is geographical
which consists of 2 character country or region code such as us, va, jp, de. The third
type is called the reverse domain which is a special domain used for IP addresses-to-
name mapping. The top level organizational domains are
 com for commercial organizations
 edu for educational institutions
 gov for government institutions
 int for international organizations
 net for networking organizations
 org for non-profit organizations
6. The DNS resolver looks up the information associated with nodes. Resolving usually
requires several name servers to find the needed information. They communicate with
name servers by sending DNS queries and heeding DNS responses.
The DNS servers cannot only encode the character names in the IP addresses but can
also reconstruct the IP address in the name of the characters. The Domain name looks into
two types of queries-recursive query which is when the name server of a host cannot resolve a
query; the server issues a query to resolve the query. The second type of query is known as
iterative query which is when the name server of a host cannot resolve a query and it sends a
referral to another server to the resolver.

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3. Basics of Email
Email is a tool which is used by nearly every person who has an internet connection.
Email stands for electronic mail which is equivalent to being a modernized version of sending
a letter to the other side of the world within minutes. Documents and photos can be attached
to the email as well. Every person has a unique email address.
Email was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the Advanced Research
Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) that was built as part of research project by the US
Department of Defence.
An email address always has an @ symbol which is pronounced as AT(at). An
example of email address is nancy@gmail.com. Here, nancy is the username which refers to a
unique name of the user. Gmail.com is the domain name of the company or organization that
provides the email service.
The receiver gets an email in his mailbox and can read and answer if required. The
message exits in the mailbox until the receiver deletes or reads it.
The advantages of an email are:
 Email is a low cost person to person communication system.

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  Email is fast as the message is delivered within minutes.
 Only the receiver can open the message hence privacy is maintained.
 Email is easy to operate.
 The storage of the email is safe and unlimited which can be accessed anytime and
from anywhere.

4. World Wide Web concepts

In order to establish a fast and rapid connection over the internet, the World Wide
Web (WWW) as a network was established. The idea of World Wide Web was developed by
Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau in November 1990. The concept of World Wide Web is
based upon two key concepts-
 Hypertext documents which provides links to other documents with similar words or
phrases.
 Network based information retrieval where the document is stored as a file which can
also be generated on request.
The Web contains millions of documents such as personal notes, reports, figures,
blueprints, drawings and so on. The web has evolved considerably over the last 10 years as a
distributed system that produces vast amounts of information. In addition, it can also accept
requests for storing new documents. The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a contact
address that specifies where a document is located. The overall organization of the Web starts
with getting a request for a document, then the server fetches document from a local file and
lastly the browser in the client machine properly displays a document. Most documents
contain references to other documents and such references are called hyperlinks. The
hyperlinks are displayed in the browser and the user can select a link by clicking on it.
Web documents are expressed in a special language known as Hypertext Mark-up
Language or simply HTML. The HTML document contains keywords, headers, lists and
tables. The most powerful feature of HTML is the ability to express parts of a document in
the form of a script.
Some of the essential components of WWW are:
 The information is delivered using hypertext and hypermedia documents/objectives.
 The communication in the Web is based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
between the user and the servers. The HTTP does not need an open communication
and does not require a server to maintain information on its clients.
 The web has an integration of documents over the internet. The HTML document
offers links to other http servers.

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  There are two kinds of processes that the Web works upon- Browsers which gives the
user the required access to all Web documents and the other is Servers which handles
incoming HTTP requests by fetching the requested document and returning it to the
client.
The functions of the Web are as follows:
 The World Wide Web works by establishing hypertext/hypermedia links between
documents anywhere on the network.
 The web browsers are capable of interacting with different kinds of servers.
 The Web has a common address scheme which makes it possible to identify what
the user wants.
 The Web browsers are extensive and can handle a wide variety of resources.

KEY LAYERS OF THE INTERNET

CONTENT

SEARCH ENGINE

BROWSERS

WORLD WIDE WEB

COMPUTER

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Internet_Key_Layers.png/220px-
Internet_Key_Layers.png

5. Website Creation
Website creation consists of a collection of HTML document files. Websites can be
created as a simple informational website or two-way sites that allow visitors to interact.
Websites are read with a program called the Web browser as for example, Internet explorer,
Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome. The only type of documents that these web browsers can
display is HTML files. The web browser makes sure that other people’s computers can
connect to the document and request a copy of the page and display it. The web server
program helps save the webpage when connected over the internet.
Creating a website involves the following steps:

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  Registering a domain name is the first step towards creating a website. For example,
domain names can be www.thefabnews.com.
 The second step is to create a few pages using HTML and subsequently use database
techniques such as PHP. PHP stands for PHP Hypertext Processor which is the
mostly widely used server-side language in the web world. The PHP program is a
word file. These files tend to end with .php.
 In order to store the content of the website to a web server, a program called the
HTML editor which saves the finished document in HTML format.
 In order to upload the content of the HTML files across the internet to the web server,
the method of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used.
Three important things to consider before creating a website:
 What type of site one is creating as for example if it is an informational site or an
entertainment site.
 Why the site is created?
 Who the site is for? The target audience should be clear in mind before a website
creation.
These three things matter because the layout of the page depends on those. The menu
on the website should be clear and concise so that the visitors do not have difficulty finding
any information. The choices in the menu should also be obvious and mutually exclusive. The
website should also be easily accessible.

6. Database Driven websites

Data driven websites are common types of dynamic web pages. Dynamic web pages
changes every time they are loaded. Database driven websites are also known as web
applications. They are distributed applications where one part of the application is carried out
on a web server and the other runs on the client computer with a web browser. These websites
use database to for storing and collecting information. The information is stored in a table

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format which is showed on the site as HTML files. These websites are user-friendly which led
you to add, edit or delete any information or create new ones.
Examples of database driven websites are e-commerce sites because these sites need
to keep the prices and offers of their services up to date. Another example includes blogs and
online community forums which needs regular updates by users.
Some of the advantages of database driven websites are as follows:
 It is suitable for e-commerce sites and online retailers where information needs to be
updated frequently.
 It is easier and faster to update information and content through these websites.
 Changing the content does not need specialized expertise or knowledge in HTML
programming.
 It has reduced error rate as data entry employees might make mistakes and rectifying
such issues on data base driven websites are easier and more efficient.
 Changing layout, trends and patterns is also extensive and can be done anytime on
these websites.

7. Summary and Conclusion

Understanding the internet is crucial in order to gain a better insight into the global
network of computers. The internet has come a long way since its inception in the 1970s and
still has a long way to go. DNS which stands for domain name system, controls the domain
name’s website and email settings as well. It sets a protocol for how computers exchange data
on the internet and on other private networks. Later in the 1990s, the birth of the Web took

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place which has been evolving till date. It is by far the most used application in the world.
With the Web, came in the development of website creation and database driven sites which
helps a user to open up a personalized website. The widespread network of the internet has
had a tremendous impact on the lives of people and the way they study, communicate and
make businesses with each other.

References
Johnson, T. (1994). Spinning the World Wide Web. Stanford University: Diane Publishing.
Lloyd, I. (2009). Build your own website using HTML and CSS (2nd ed.). Publisher Site
Point.
Albitz, P., & Cricket, L. (2006). DNS and BIND (5th ed.). California, CA: O’Reily Media.

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